Rudyard Kipling famously wrote about wolves in ‘The Jungle Book’
“For the strength of the pack is the wolf and the strength of the wolf is the pack”
Wolves are dangerous, aggressive and threatening
When we think wolves, we think of the ‘threat’ they pose, rather than an example we can follow. Whilst wolves can be aggressive and threatening, so can humans. So this kind of description is far too simplistic a way to describe them.
Pack Life
Wolves don’t live, eat, hunt, fight or raise their young alone. They do everything together, as one family, as part of a wolf pack. They do this because it gives them a greater chance of finding food, a greater chance of physical safety, a greater ability to mark and protect their territory; and a greater chance of their pups surviving. They appreciate the strength in numbers and the range of skills that a pack life offers them. They also live in packs because they are social animals and they prefer the company of others. Their needs are similar to ours.
When wolves travel they walk in a straight line, one after another. When the snow is deep, the strongest wolf goes first to help the others. At other times, the slowest wolves go first, so they don’t get left behind.
The leader of the pack eats first, but not alone. The leader eats with the pups, to ensure that the next generation survives. The wolf pack’s attention to future planning maintains the pack from generation to generation.
Packs not teams
To get simple or limited tasks done at work, you can often rely on a single person. But if you need anything large, complicated or lengthy done well, having a team of people is often better than one person alone. Human teams can be great at getting tasks done, but a human team isn’t necessarily as selfless, faithful or supportive as a family can be. Sadly most aren’t. Packs of wolves, on the other hand are families and have an easy togetherness that human teams would love to emulate.
Teams aren’t necessarily great at communicating amongst themselves, let alone with other stakeholders and outsiders. Poor communication is where most failing teams fail first. In contrast, wolves communicate very effectively, to ensure everyone knows what’s happening. To do this, wolves use a varied range of communication techniques, including howling, mimicry, barking, growling, defensive body postures and creating scent, to communicate with each other and with outsiders. Their strong senses of hearing and smell help them ‘listen’ very effectively. Human teams don’t tend to listen or communicate well enough.
Wolf packs are well organised and hierarchical. The breeding pair are the pack leaders. They mate for life and are loyal to each other above anyone. When one dies, the other never mates with another wolf. The pack roles are clear just from observing them. The leader of the pack always keeps its tail up, whilst the others have theirs pointing horizontally or downwards depending on their place in the pack. Every wolf knows its role in the pack and is content with it. Human teams often suffer from internal politics, envy and misalignment. They could do with having the loyalty and structure of a wolf pack.
If your team is more like a wolf pack, it is more likely to be successful.